I have played just about all of Eden Studios games and had the pleasure of doing demo work for them....I asked the powers that be at DriveThruRPG if I could post my youtube reviews here instead of writing a whole new review...so please check my link below to my thoughts and musings of Con X. I hope you enjoy...

In space nobody can hear you scream... but that doesn't mean that there isn't something to scream about. Although they can arise anytime, anyplace, in some ways zombies are science fiction, with Frankenstein being regarded as the first science fiction novel. This book is the science fiction sourcebook for All Flesh Must Be Eaten, with new rules for creating characters and playing in science fiction settings, five full-blown settings and a whole bunch of other ideas. After explaining this, Chapter 1: Introduction runs through the standard conventions of presentation, and provides an extensive list of books and films to mine for inspiration.

Next, Chapter 2: Starship Shamblers provides specifically science fiction rules to enhance your game, starting off by defining various technology 'types' or broad classifications - biotech, cybertech, space travel, nanotech and the far reaches of space opera - that can be used to categorise your game. It then looks at character creation, noting that standard characters do just fine but you may want cybernetic enhancements or something, ot play a non-human alien sentient. There are rules to accommodate all that, along with new skills, qualities and drawbacks appropriate to a science fiction game. You can even be a robot - at least you won't have a 'brain' for zombies to munch on... and this presents the interesting concept of running a game where it's robots rather than zombies which are on the rampage!

And now on to the full-blown settings. The first is cybertech mixed with Mad Max. Then there is one in which nanotech gone rampant leads to the fall of nations and a resurgence in religious belief, followed by an Aliens style setting in which the party is sent to investigate a colony which has gone silent. Another is purely virtual, taking place in a digital realm... but you cannot escape zombies even there, and finally there is a space opera setting complete with warring empires. Plenty there to choose from - but if that's not enough, there is a selection of other ideas that will need further development but could do nicely for a short-term game even if you don't want to build them into a full campaign.

There's no reason to leave the zombie menace in the past. Encounter them in the future, on other worlds as well.

So, you are ready to run a zombie apocalypse but you're not quite sure where (or even when) those shambling brain-hungry monsters are going to show up? This book presents a full twenty-one concepts which can be run as presented or mined for ideas for a setting of your very own.

The settings are varied and imaginative. What if Von Richthofen, the Red Baron German ace of World War 1 was undead? Or did the Irish potato famine of 1846 give rise to a blight that poisoned the very land and caused those who died of starvation to rise again? Was the Man in the Iron Mask actually a zombie? Each begins with an outline of the situation and background, followed by several scenario ideas and a range of information - such as additional rules, NPCs (zombie or alive) - to help you turn idea into full-blown adventure. There are also suggestions for appropriate modifications to standard character generation, based on the situation. The material includes details of how the zombies came about in the first place, how they function and feed and how new ones arise. Even if you don't like the particular setting, you may choose to use the mechanism elsewhere, or vice versa.

There's plenty of choice. Arabia. France. Japan. Dates run from the Roman Empire to the future (in space, no less) with some fascinating stops along the way. What if Dr Frankenstein kept Queen Victoria going until she was 116? Or is she actually alive at all? What if some luckless archaeologist found that the Knights Templar he was excavating suddenly arose as zombies and chased him round the dig site? Not all the settings have a basis in reality, either. There's a truly strange superhero setting with a novel explanation of how the heroes got their powers. Perhaps McCarthy's UnAmerican Activities Committee was rooting out zombies rather than communists. And just what was in the Kool-Aid? Normal treats like ice cream and a visit to a theme park take on a horrendous twist. Medical experiements gone wrong, zombie hordes taking over... a dark future of ecological catastrophe... and finally an ark ship of cryogentically-frozen travellers who awaken to sheer horror.

All these settings are replete with ideas, and more spawn as you read through them - which is just as well, as each is only outline and suggestions. The work of crafting an adventure lies ahead, but you are provided with the tools, ideas and a core concept to help you prepare your game. Some may run and run, others are more suited to a one-off adventure or a short campaign. There's a lot of thought-provoking material here, so if you want zombies but are not sure when and where to set your game (and don't want the present day, which isn't covered at all) you ought to find something that inspires here.

I have played both CoH and CoV, either one was good. Placing it in RPG form is an undertaking, although I find some areas to be unrefined but that happens at the beginning of each game and their collective genre. The skills section seems to lack something since they cover so much. I suggest for each skill to have 2-3 subskills that a player is able to utilize well.

Hope this helps if it can, otherwise the game is heading a good direction.

This contains all you need to have a go at All Flesh Must Be Eaten apart from a few polyhedral dice and some ready-meals for your zombies... er, I mean players. It starts of by explain what is one of the main selling points of this game line: it has no setting! That sounds a bit odd, but what it means is that if you want to play a game about zombies, you can set it anywhere - past, present, future, fantasy, whatever - using these simple rules and maybe one of the array of setting books that are available. The adventure here is set in contemporary America, and it's suggested that for best effect the GM (or Zombie Master as he is known in this game) does not let on that the group is about to play a game about zombies, just hand out the Archetypes provided!

Next comes an outline of the rules - a version of the Eden Studios Unisystem - beginning with the concept of Archetypes, the way in which player-characters are described in the game. There are brief notes on what the character sheet means, then a collection of six - a doctor, an FBI agent, a gang banger, a good ol' boy, a marine and a soccer mom - are provided. A motley lot, perhaps, but the idea is that they are thrown together by circumstance and have to work together to survive. They are followed by some more rules stuff: task resolution, luck, getting scared, and of course combat.

Then comes the adventure itself, 'The Waking Dead'. It starts with our motley crew waking up in hospital after a mysterious disaster of which they seem to be the only survivors... and things go downhill from there. It's well constructed to both provide a thorough introduction to the workings of the game and be quite exciting in its own right! Neatly, it starts off pretty linear and becomes more freeform as it goes on, allowing the Zombie Master to take it in any direction - and use it, if desired, as a campaign starter rather than merely an introduction to the game.

The party awakens without equipment or indeed clothes apart from hospital gowns (the sort that leave your rear end hanging out!), so they will have to scavenge as they explore. There's an added twist that they are having strange dreams which may lead them to safety, but there are decisions to be made here, which sets this above many introductory adventures with a real feeling of accomplishing something, of getting somewhere.

If you are new to All Flesh Must Be Eaten this makes an excellent introduction. Likewise, if you want to kick off a contemporary zombie game in great style, this will serve very well - just add in whatever you need to steer the action in the right direction!

Diving straight in with Chapter 1: Ahoy Matey, we are first regaled with some atmospheric fiction in which the 'pirate lingo' is mercifully kept where it belongs in direct speech followed by an Introduction that sets out the purpose of this book: to provide an age-of-sail setting for All Flesh Must Be Eaten focussed firmly in the Caribbean. As such, Voodoo features large (it is, after all, one of the better-known ways to create zombies) and overall there's a greater air of magic here than in other published settings. This chapter also contains plenty of general seafaring information, or at least the terminology to allow you to sound like a seasoned seadog as well as a timeline and some pointers to inspirational materials.

Then Chapter 2: Ye Pirates and Privateers deals with the fine detail of what is and isn't piracy including a history of piracy through the ages, as well as covering chatacter creation. There is also an interesting discussion about why people choose to be pirates in the first place. Although the main focus of this book is the Caribbean, there are some notes on Asian piracy as well. Another gem in this chapter is some detailed swordfighting rules aimed at duelling, but excellent for anyone wishing to swash their buckle a bit. It's followed by Chapter 3: Th' Tools o'the Trade which provides everything the well-dressed pirate needs: weapons, equipment, ships (a bit essential...) as well as notes on life at sea and ship-to-ship combat. There's also a mechanism for generating crews for your ships - there are far too many folk on a sailing ship for you to create them all individually. Then Chapter 4: Vodou provides all you need to enable Inspired characters to perform Vodou miracles. Note that the Abomination Codex for C.J. Carella's Witchcraft has a different way of presending Voodoo within the UniSystem game mechanics: you can choose which version you prefer.

We then move on to three main settings and one chapter of less-developed ones. Chapter 5: Voodoo Queen of the Shrouded Isles. This involves a dark tale of revenge that has resulted in a veritable plague of zombies carried worldwide by sailing ships. The party is likely on a ship roaming the waves looking for plunder and zombie-free sanctuary ashore in equal measures. There are a few adventure seeds, but that's what it boils down to... with perhaps the chance of finding out how to eliminate the zombies for good and all.

Chapter 6: The Black Fleet tells of the fate of a fleet of treasure ships that had amongst their loot an artefact they really ought to have left alone. Cursed, they vanished... but occasionally appear to haunt the high seas. With background and adventure ideas aplenty, this is possibly the closest to Pirates of the Caribbean if you want to bring that style into yourg game.

In Chapter 7: Islands in a Dark Sea, Galileo - armed with some of Da Vinci's drawings - fled the Inquisition and discovered space travel, which he called the Dark Sea. Now the party has the chance to explore this exotic setting, that knows the limits only of your imagination. There are loads of ideas to get you started, and this is a magnificent opportunity to mix in all manner of materials from other sources...

Finally, Chapter 8: Pieces of Eight gives brief outlines of some possible Asian settings. Mixing in elements of Enter the Zombie would be appropriate here. There are Vietnamese and Chinese possibilities - or the party could be European seafarers exploring the exotic East. Here you'll find several story ideas, a timeline and some Asian weapons to supplement (or replace) the ones introduced earlier... and of course plenty of zombies. If that's not enough, an Aztec setting is also provided complete with its own backstory and ideas.

Pirates and zombies. What is there not to like in that mixture? For groups who like either, this is well worth exploring.

Diving straight in with but an almost-hidden note that the archetypes herein were created by fans of the game (and may not be completely compatible with the rules) - it's buried in the credits page - we have a collection of forty-three new archetypes. Most are contemporary folk who could easily get swept up in a zombie apocalypse, but there are a few from the Old West and other settings if that is what you are playing. They're useful if you need a character in a hurry (maybe the zombies got your last one and you don't want to spectate for the rest of the session) or maybe to give you ideas for characters if you are wondering what to play. They also make good detailed NPCs if needed. There are also a few new pieces of equipment and rules additions at the end.

Each archetype - neatly provided on a single page, especially useful for PDF users who can print just the page they want - contains a full-length sketch of the character, their game statistics and a delightful in-character monologue that tells you enough about them to be able to get a good feel for that character. If you intend to play one, just about all you need do is supply a name. Naturally, you can tweak them a bit if they are not precisely what you want.

The archetypes are quite diverse - administrative assistants, bomb squad, a hacker, a lunatic who's escaped from the nearest asylum... and many more. Some of the backstories they tell could suggest adventures or even a whole campaign if you are so minded.

The new equipment is based around items that some of the archetypes have with them, providing the extra information that you need to use them in game. Likewise there are new Chi abilities, qualities/drawbacks and so on to explain some of the entries... but of course they can all be used for characters of your own devising as well.

If you go through characters real fast or see the need for a large supporting cast of NPCs, this book is likely to come in very useful.

Opening with fiction detailing a typical fantasy dungeon delve encounter with zombies (and its aftermath), Chapter 1: Delving Down talks about how everybody - not just players of role-playing games - indulges in fantasy from time to time, but of course gamers do so more intensely than most. Here however, 'fantasy' is defined more precisely, it's the swords and sorcery sort, the kind where you go dungeon delving... only in this book there are, of course, plenty of zombies added to the mix.

These opening remarks are followed by Chapter 2: Swords, Sorcery and Shambling which explores character creation for heroic fantasy All Flesh Must Be Eaten games, as well as new rules and game mechanics necessary to make the game work in this genre. This is followed by no less than four settings taking you on a wild trip through 'classic' role-playing fantasy, literary fantasy J.R.R. Tolkien-style, the world of King Arthur, and an Asian-influenced one, as well as a complete dungeon delve ready to run. As you can imagine, apart from Chapter 2, this material is intended for the Zombie Master rather than the players.

In Chapter 2, we meet two new character types: the Adept and the Talented Hero. The Survivor and Inspired character types are also appropriate for this style of play. The Adept is the wizard or mage, leaving Inspired for clerics. As it's fantasy, you can also play a non-human, and there's a system of Profession Qualities to enable you to set up the classic 'character classes' if you want - or just build a character normally with the skills you want him to have. There are some new Skills appropriate to the genre, and the timely reminder that zombies can, like player-characters, be of any race available in your setting, not just humans. Some new combat rules are here too, dealing with the use of the mediaeval-style weapons and fighting styles common to fantasy. There is a basic magic system here as well, but those after more detail are referred to two other Unisystem games - Armageddon and WitchCraft - although there is quite a lot to be found here, including some excellent Necromancy spells that will let the practitioner raise and control zombies...

The chapter rounds out with some thoughts on creating fantasy settings and a few archetypes, then we move on to the provided settings, beginning with Chapter 3: Dead Gods and Demon Lands. This is a grim pulp fantasy setting where heroes go adventuring primarily because that's their way of having a good time. Think Conan the Barbarian here. Plenty of background to aid you in bringing it all to life... and three different kinds of zombies to harass honest adventurers as they go about their business. Several story ideas finish this chapter, along with a few more Archetypes.

Next is Chapter 4: Dawn of a Dead Age. This is an epic fantasy setting, where the deeds of a small band has great effect within the vast sweep of the struggle between good and evil, determining the very fate of the land. This setting is all about an ancient and terrible power reawakened, how it threatens the land and how it is stopped... by the party, of course. A vast sweep of background underpins the rise of a Dread Lord and provides the means to defeat him once more, assuming the party can find said means, that is. His rise is what has caused the zombies, hopefully his defeat will eliminate them. Rather than story ideas, there's a campaign outline that lays out the epic tale you'll tell in this setting.

In Chapter 5: Death of the Round Table, zombies are introduced into the world of King Arthur. There's a discussion of what that world really is, from the historical possibility to the romantic fantasy it became - you pick what kind of setting you want. There's a code of chivalry to which every knight ought to subscribe, and a fair bit of background to help you set the scene. As for the way this setting's zombies are created... shall we say that the chalice from the palace has the pellet with the poison? The Round Table has been perverted under the leadership of Mordred, and the party must embark on a quest to put things right.

Then Chapter 6: The Eastern Dead puts an Asian spin on things. This could be with profit read alongside Enter the Zombie, and it brings the flavour of the far east to a mediaeval style fantasy world - with samurai and ninjas and warrior monks mixing it with each other and any zombie unwise enough to raise its head... even if the poor mindless thing is just hungry! A rich and exotic setting is laid out, with background and story ideas aplenty to enable you to make the most of it.

Finally, Chapter 7: The Tomb of Doom provides a ready-made dungeon to explore. There's a bit of background which explains, amongst other things, why zombies have started to appear and provides for the party to get involved very quickly in the action as the zombies raid the town the party is in (for whatever reason they or you come up with). It's not long before they are traced back to an ancient tomb, then it's time to grab your ten foot pole and delve...

If you like fantasy games but want to bring zombies into them, or you like zombies and fancy a fantasy setting for them, this could be the supplement for you. With well-developed ideas that bring the zombies into the very fabric of the settings and scope for epic adventures, it takes zombies firmly out of the classic movie settings they are normally encountered in and empowers a fantasy twist to your game.

Described as an 'appetiser' for All Flesh Must Be Eaten, this is a complete adventure which ought to take one or two sessions to run. As it has a mediaeval timeframe, characters should be generated using the 'Dead at 1000' setting in the core rulebook. It's suitable for a one-off game, or it may be part of a longer campaign in that setting.

The plot is basically a retelling of the traditional tale The Pied Piper of Hamlin, with zombies instead of the rats in the original. The backstory links back to the 'Dead at 1000' setting with the Piper himself having been an acolyte of the fellow responsible for the rise of the walking dead in that setting, now travelling the length of Europe causing his own zombie plagues and then being rewarded handsomely for getting rid of them! A neat little moneyspinner... until he reaches Hamlin. For first of all the town is broke (due to somewhat shady practices on the part of the mayor) and secondly... well, the party is in town.

The idea is that the party arrives a few days before trouble erupts, so they have an opportunity to explore. Why they are there is left up to them (and you), but prominent figures and locations in town are described to facilitate them getting to know the place. There is building consternation as news of advancing walking dead is heard, and the mayor leads the town in making preparations to defend itself. Then the dead come...

When all seems lost, the Piper turns up and offers to lead the walking dead away, for a fee. The deal done, he indeed does so. There's a big celebration, then the next morning at an awards ceremony the mayor is hosting, the Piper arrives in search of his fee - which the mayor cannot pay! The Piper takes his revenge and it is up to the party to set things straight.

It's a neat retooling of a traditional tale, well presented and with plenty of action. Plans of Hamlin and the Piper's hideout are provided, along with plenty of detail about his endgame. This leads to the possibility of further adventure, should you so wish. Appetiser indeed, certainly makes me hungry for more!

If you ever thought a zombie was just that, a zombie, think again. This book taps into traditions of the undead from around the world, presenting a vast range of different zombies from rotting, shambling brain-eaters that are driven by instinct and can be put down with a shotgun blast to undead raised by arcane (or scientific) means which have a purpose to fulful and won't be stopped until they have done whatever they were sent to do if then...

Obviously, this is a resource for the Zombie Master. It taps in to legends of the walking dead from a multiplicity of cultures, some familiar and others obscure. They are presented with appropriate game statistics, along with ideas for adventures involving them and other new material such as new Aspects culled from the new zombies here and made available to those who like to craft their own undead. Maybe your party has gone travelling, and encounters exotic zombies on their home turf. Or maybe the zombies have come along with living immigrants and can be found in your own neighbourhood along with ethnic restaurants and other more enticing parts of multi-cultural living.

There are a full eighteen different varieties of the walking dead presented here, and each has its own variations. Each comes with atmospheric fiction, game statistics and story ideas. Exotic animated Aztec mummies rub shoulders with Scandanavian draugr... and of course the female of the species is more deadly than the male, certainly when you meet an undead femme fatale. Traditional Egyptian mummies and vampires are also included. And you don't want to meet a gaki, a Japanese 'hungry ghost'...

A lot of the suggested plots involve archaelogical expeditions digging up more than they bargained for, or remains being disturbed during developments and road construction. A few make A Night at the Museum look tame. They all suggest adventures that should keep the party occupied for a few sessions, some could easily develop into a complete campaign. Some fit in with one or more of the settings presented in other books in the game line, others are less-specific or suggest a whole new setting of their own. There's even scope to spin some of them together - perhaps the party specialises in investigating unusual events in museums or at archaeological digs and gets called in to several of the plots from all over the world. That could make a good episodic campaign. Or maybe like the characters in the TV shows Supernatural and The X-Files, they go around investigating mysterious happenings in general.

This supplement provides a wealth of ideas for any Zombie Master, and could prove fertile ground (providing you are up to doing any necessary conversions) to GMs of other systems who want to introduce a range of unusual and well-developed walking dead to their game.